California IAF, Bishops Lead Push to Better Support Undocumented Workers

posted by West / Southwest IAF | 5sc
May 02, 2020

[Excerpt]

If they do work, parents in agricultural jobs leave their kids home alone, and the children are falling behind in school, she said. COPA and theIndustrial Areas Foundation, a national network of faith- and community-based organizations, are among the groups advocating on behalf of immigrants in the state, and they have had some success. Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom set aside $75 million to support undocumented workers in California. Mr. Newsom also implemented two weeks’ paid sick leave for undocumented workers.

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Bishop Jaime Soto of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, along with 1,000 other faith and community leaders from the CaliforniaIndustrial Areas Foundation(IAF), on Tuesday will convene with state legislators on Zoom to call for more support for undocumented immigrants during the Covid-19 pandemic.

COPA is the local organization affiliated with the IAF, aiming to train leaders in community-based institutions throughout Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties. COPA works with faith communities, unions, schools and other institutions. All organizations are nonpartisan, multi-issue and multilingual.

The May 5 California IAF meeting will include over 200 leaders from COPA, as well as representatives from seven other IAF organizations from across the state. Several state legislators including Senator Maria Elena Durazo (Los Angeles), Assemblymember David Chiu (San Francisco), and Assemblymember Eloise Gomez-Reyes (San Bernardino) will respond to the IAF leaders’ agenda. Locally, Senator Anna Caballero and other officials will attend.